Short Stories

Stanecek, Taylor

Taylor Stanecek
Birth City
Monument
Birth State
CO
Current Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Occupation(s)
Author, Broker, & Commercial Property Manager
Biography

Taylor Stanecek has spent most of his life in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He's currently a commercial property manager with a drive to write in his spare time. His passion for writing sparked in grade school with the help of a motivational teacher and has pushed him to continue to strive for creativity through short stories and poetry over the years, finally moving into fictional novels. Identifying as gay, Taylor has focused his first coming of age trilogy on LGBT culture.

Education/Training
Master of Business Administration – Finance
Real Estate Broker License
Bachelor of Arts, Political Science / Minor in Writing
Local Authors Genres
Published Works Book Jackets
Image
Bad Blood
Image
Blood Ties
Speaker Availability
Yes
Speaker Topics
Writing & Becoming an Author
The route to Self-Publishing
The Steps in Finding Editors & Cover Artists
LGBT+ Culture
Struggles of Family Dysfunction

DeSye, Davyne

DeSye, Davyne
Birth Year (-Died Year)
1963
Birth City
Frankfurt, DE
Occupation(s)
Author
Biography

Davyne spent her life traveling the world and has lived in Germany, Bolivia, Somalia, Afghanistan, Japan, Korea, Mexico, and the United States. She came to Colorado in 1993 and now writes from a cozy spot nestled at the base of the Pikes Peak in beautiful Colorado Springs. One of the settings in her book, Phantom Rising, is loosely based on Glen Eyrie Castle in Colorado Springs.

Awards/Honors
Reader's Favorite Five-Star Rating (For Love of the Phantom)
Reader's Favorite Five-Star Rating (Phantom Rising)
Education/Training
Juris Doctorate, 1992
Bachelor of Science - Decision Studies/Computer Science, 1987
Associate of Science - Business Administrations, 1987
Associate of Science - General Studies, 1987
Organizations
Member, Romance Writers of America
Member, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
Member, Colorado Bar Association
Speaker Availability
Yes
Speaker Topics
Various aspects of writing

Baxter, William Edwin

Baxter, William Edwin
Birth City
Fullerton
Birth State
CA
Current Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Occupation(s)
Civilian Contract Worker at Ft. Carson (Service Source Inc. hires people with disabilities to work as contract workers)
Biography

William Edwin Baxter was born on October 11, 1954 in Fullerton, California. He was born with developmental disabilities, but has strive not to let his disabilities defeat him in life, but to go above and beyond them by accomplishing great things and inspiring others to do the same. This became his legacy. He lived most of his life in Orange County, California; but currently lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado. On July 9, 2016, William suffered a massive pulmonary embolism which almost ended his life, but he survived. Had he died in the E.R. at Memorial Hospital, his legacy would have died with him. Realizing this, he began to write his first book, entitled W.E.B. Tales (W.E.B. is his initial name for William Edwin Baxter). The book was published as an e-book in May 2018, and as a paperback in July 2018. Other books have been published since W.E.B. Tales which can be found on my author page on amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/William-Edwin-Baxter/e/B07GC44FVR

Awards/Honors
President's Team Award for Service Excellence - from Service Source Inc., August 2015
Employee of the Year Award - from Service Source Inc., in August 2018
Distinguished Toastmaster Award - Highest award from Toastmasters International, February 1996
Education/Training
B.S. Degree, Recreation, California State University, East Bay, 1979 - A.A. Degree, Liberal Arts, Ohlone College, 1977 -Thomas S. Wootton High School, Rockville, MD, 1974
Published Works Book Jackets
Organizations
Member of Toastmasters International since November 1990
Speaker Availability
Yes
Speaker Topics
I would like to talk about "Going Above and Beyond" disabilities and other obstacles which can stand in the way of working towards one's goals and achieving them (as chronicled in my keynote speech: https://webblog305448100.wordpress.com/2020/02/05/w-e-b-keynote-address/)

Bhagat, Brook

Bhagat, Brook
Birth City
Colorado Springs
Birth State
CO
Current Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Occupation(s)
Writer | Professor of English and Creative Writing at Pikes Peak State College | Editor-in-chief, Blue Planet Journal
Biography

Brook Bhagat is the author of Only Flying, a Pushcart-nominated collection of surreal poetry and flash fiction on paradox, rebellion, transformation, and enlightenment from Unsolicited Press. Her work has won contests at Loud Coffee Press and A Story in 100 Words, and her poem, “The Homes of Birds,” first published in the anthology, A Walk with Nature, was a first-round winner in the 2022 Colorado Hearts and Minds Poetry Contest.

Brook’s poetry, prose, humor, and creative nonfiction have been published in Monkeybicycle, Empty Mirror, Soundings East, The Alien Buddha Goes Pop, Anthem: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen, and other journals and anthologies. She and her husband Gaurav created Blue Planet Journal, which she edits and writes for. She holds an MFA from Lindenwood University and is an assistant professor of English and creative writing at Pikes Peak State College. Read her work and learn more about Only Flying here, check out the Nearby Universe here, and follow her on Twitter and Instagram @BrookBhagat.

Awards/Honors
First place: “The Homes of Birds,” A Story in 100 Words Summer Nature Writing Contest, 2020
Nomination: 2021 Pushcart Prize for “The Mammoth,” Unsolicited Press
Tied for first place: “Be the Poet,” Loud Coffee Press Summer Flash Fiction Contest, 2021
Honorable mention: “When the Pen Is Still,” Loud Coffee Press Haiku Contest, 2022
First-round winner: 2022 Colorado Hearts and Minds Poetry Contest for “The Homes of Birds”
Education/Training
MFA-Creative Writing, Lindenwood University
BA-English, Vassar College
Local Authors Genres
Organizations
Pikes Peak State College
Founder and facilitator of the Nearby Universe, the PPSC faculty and staff Creative Writers group
Speaker Availability
Yes
Speaker Topics
Speaker topics:
* Creative writing games in the classroom
* Bringing humor and warmth to the online classroom
* Two muses: conscious and mystical creative processes
* The nuts and bolts of getting published: how to submit to literary magazines and small presses
* Plotters vs. pantsers: planning steps for your novel
* Why and how to join or start a writers’ group

Workshops:
* Group poetry: The exquisite corpse and more
* BYOD: Using dreams in creative work
* Prose poetry or Microfiction? The 100-word story
* Magical Realism game and story/poem creation
* Creative Nonfiction game and story/poem creation
* Show Don’t Tell game and story/poem creation
* Writing your author bio
* Hit hard going cold/ get funny going hot on nonsense story/poem creation
* Ekphrastic poetry creation
* Fantasy and sci-fi worldbuilding

Colter, Liz

Colter, Liz
Pseudonym
L.D. Colter
Current Location
Colorado
Biography

Liz has followed her heart through a wide variety of careers, including farming with a team of draft horses and working as a field paramedic, Outward Bound instructor, athletic trainer, and roller-skating waitress, among other curious choices. She also knows more about concrete than you might suspect. Her novels written under the name L. D. Colter explore contemporary and dark fantasy, and ones written as L. Deni Colter venture into epic fantasy realms. Following a long interlude in Southern and Northern California, she returned some years ago to her home state of Colorado, where she spends her time with her husband, dogs, horses, and writing (according to her husband, not always in that order of priority).

Awards/Honors
A Borrowed Hell - Winner of the 2018 Colorado Book Award for Science Fiction/Fantasy
Published Works Book Jackets
Speaker Availability
Yes
Speaker Topics
Publishing through a large press, small press or indie - Writing technique - Short story writing and submissions

Orton, D.L.

Orton, D.L.
Current Location
Front Range of the Rockies
Occupation(s)
Time Machine Mechanic
Biography

AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR D. L. ORTON lives in the Rocky Mountains where she and her husband are raising three boys, a golden retriever, two Siberian cats, and an extremely long-lived Triops. In her spare time, she's building a time machine so that someone can go back and do the laundry.

Awards/Honors
Publishers Weekly "Booklife Prize in Fiction" Quarter-Finalist (CIT 2016 and DT 2017)
Next Generation Indie Book Awards, E-book Fiction Finalist (CIT 2017)
Colorado Book Award Finalist, Science Fiction (2017)
Book Excellence Awards Winner, Science Fiction (2016)
Readers' Favorite Book Award Winner, Audiobook (2016)
SWIRL Awards Finalist, Science Fiction (2016)
Indie Excellence Book Award Winner, Cross-Genre Fiction (2016)
USA Best Book Award Finalist, Cross-Genre Fiction (2016)
International Book Award Finalist, Cross-Genre Fiction (2016)
Colorado Gold Finalist, Science Fiction (2015)
Novel Beginnings Award Winner, Science Fiction (2015)
Education/Training
Ms. Orton is a graduate of Stanford University's Writers Workshop and a past editor of <em>Top of the Western Staircase</em>, a literary publication of CU, Boulder. The author has a number of short stories published in online literary magazines, including Literotica, Melusine, Cosmoetica, The Ranfurly Review, and Catalyst Press.
Published Works Book Jackets
Organizations
Independent Book Publishers Association
Speaker Availability
Yes
Speaker Topics
Writing a book series - Indie publishing - How to find an editor, publisher, and audience

Bissett, Carina

Carina Bissett
Birth City
Lincoln
Birth State
NE
Current Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Occupation(s)
Educator and author
Biography

Carina Bissett is a writer, poet, and educator working primarily in the fields of dark fiction and fabulism. Her short fiction and poetry have been published in multiple journals and anthologies including Upon a Twice Time, Bitter Distillations: An Anthology of Poisonous TalesArterial BloomGorgon: Stories of EmergenceWeird Dream SocietyHath No Fury, and the HWA Poetry Showcase Vol. V, VI, and VIII. She has also written stories set in shared worlds for RPGs at Green Ronin Publishing and Onyx Path Publishing. In addition to writing, she has edited several projects; the most recent is in the role as co-editor for Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas.

As an educator, Carina has taught at Pikes Peak Community College, Glendale Community College, and Arizona State University. She also participated in the Colorado Writing Project and works with educators to develop writing instruction in college and secondary school classrooms. She currently offers workshops focused on story generation at The Storied Imaginarium. Her fiction has been nominated for the Sundress Publications Best of the Net Award and was a finalist for the Ron L. Hubbard Writers of the Future Awards. Her poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the Sundress Publications Best of the Net Award. In her editorial capacity, she’s received recognition as the Winner at the Colorado Book Awards 2022 (Anthology) and as a Finalist in the Fiction: Anthologies category of the 2022 International Book Award.

Awards/Honors
Winner, ANTHOLOGY, Colorado Book Awards: Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas (edited by Carina Bissett, Hillary Dodge, and Joshua Viola; Nov. 2021).
Finalist, ANTHOLOGY, International Book Awards: Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas (edited by Carina Bissett, Hillary Dodge, and Joshua Viola; Nov. 2021).
Nominated for Best of the Net Award: “Fairy Tale Prohibition” (NonBinary Review #25 Prohibition, Zoetic, Sep. 2021).
Nominated for Best of the Net Award: “Radiant” (NonBinary Review Issue 24: Industrial Revolution, Zoetic, June 2021).
Silver Hammer Award (Horror Writers Association, 2021).
Finalist, ANTHOLOGY, Colorado Book Awards. “An Authentic Experience” (WILD: Uncivilized Tales from Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, RMFW, Aug. 2020).
Finalist, Superior Achievement in an Anthology, Stoker Awards: “Rotten” (Arterial Bloom, Crystal Lake Pub., Mar. 2020).
Honorable Mention, NESFA Short Story Contest (2020).
Winner, Fiction: ANTHOLOGY, The 2020 Best Book Awards: “Gaze with Undimmed Eyes and the World Drops Dead,” (Terror at 5280’, Denver Horror Collective, Nov. 2019).
Finalist, Writers of the Future (1st quarter, 2019).
Silver Honorable Mention, Writers of the Future (4th quarter, 2018).
Nominated for Best of the Net Award: “C8 : A Tessellation of Faces, Wings, and other Obscure Things ”(NonBinary Review Issue 17: A Wrinkle in Time, Zoetic Press, July 2018).
Nominated for the Pushcart Prize: “The Sweet Sleep of Roses or, After the Fall” (NonBinary Review Issue 15: We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Zoetic Press, Jan. 2018).
Honorable Mention, Writers of the Future (4th quarter, 2017).
Honorable Mention, Writers of the Future (2nd quarter, 2017).
Horror Writers Association, HWA Scholarship (2016).
Honorable mention in Best Horror of the Year, Vol. 9 (ed. Ellen Datlow): “Swimming with the Shark Boys” (Mythic Delirium, May 2016).
Nominated for Sundress Best of the Net: “The Yellow Press of an Ancient Power” (NonBinary Review Issue 5: The King in Yellow, Zoetic Press, June 2015).
Nominated for Sundress Publications Best of the Net Award and the Pushcart Prize: “Wild Girl” (NonBinary Review Issue 1: Grimms’ Fairy Tales, Zoetic Press, June 2014.)
Education/Training
MFA in Creative Writing (University of Maine, 2018) - M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction (University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, 2011) - B.A. in Integrative Studies (Arizona State University, 1999) - A.A. in Humanities (Glendale Community College, 1998) - A.G.S. in General Studies (Glendale Community College, 1997)
Organizations
Horror Writers Association - Science Fiction Poetry Association - Colorado Poets Center - Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
Speaker Availability
Yes
Speaker Topics
Speculative fiction - Creative non-fiction - Speculative poetry - Memoir - Other creative pursuits

Riley, Gina

Riley, Gina
Birth City
Detroit
Birth State
MI
Current Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Occupation(s)
Former librarian and teacher - Cherokee Two-Spirit Shaman
Biography

I was still living as a man when I moved to in the year 2000. Having been outed as transgender, and fired at the Prep-School where I had been working, I was recruited at the National Librarians' Conference to be the Coordinator of Information and Technology at Mitchell High School, where I was again outed and fired. In 2007, after being outed and fired at CollegeAmerica, I transitioned to living full time as a woman. My storytelling-performances in The Story Project in Colorado Springs and for The Secret Society of Twisted Storytellers are viewable on YouTube. I also sing karaoke and do an occasional standup open-mike.

Awards/Honors
First Place - Bowling This Month, Amateur Bowling Writers Contest
First Place - Best Creative Non-Fiction 2013, Loyola Maryland University Literary EZine
Education/Training
Master's Degree in Library Science - Bachelor's Degree in English, Wayne State University, Michigan
Published Works Book Jackets
Speaker Availability
Yes
Speaker Topics
Storytelling - Transgender - Theory of Mind - Education

Arrington, Bradley

Arrington, Bradley
Pseudonym
Bradley Firebird
Birth City
New York City
Birth State
NY
Current Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Occupation(s)
Customer service and office clerk
Biography

Born in Brooklyn, Long Island, New York, I have been a resident of Colorado Springs, Colorado since November 2011. I have written over 100 original stories (short stories, poems, indie screenplays, stage plays) and audio (radio) plays & skits (audio short stories) of several genres: Twilight Zone-type stories, science fiction, horror, comedy, satire, and drama. I am currently working on a sci-fi novel that is a cross between Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. A former homeless veteran (U.S. Army), I am now student at Pikes Peak Community College.

Awards/Honors
2016 - APPR Writing Center Contest, dramatic reading of my short audio play "The Day the Music Lived"
Education/Training
A.A. degree in General Studies, Suffolk Community College, Long Island, NY, 1977 - Army Admin School, Fort Jackson, 1980 - Cal Simmons Travel Agent School, Alexandria, VA, 1985
Organizations
Pikes Peak Community College Radio Theater Club - Pikes Peak Community College Entrepreneurs Club
Speaker Availability
Yes
Speaker Topics
Radio Theater - How to Start a Radio Theater Club - How to Write a Radio Play or Script

Torreano, Mike

Torreano, Mike
Birth City
Flint
Birth State
MI
Current Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Occupation(s)
Writer
Biography

Mike Torreano has lived in Colorado Springs since 1977. A retired Colonel, USAF, he is also a retired financial advisor with Northwestern Mutual of 35 years.

Education/Training
MA, Mass Communications, University of Denver - BA, International Affairs, United States Air Force Academy
Local Authors Genres
Published Works Book Jackets
Organizations
Western Writers of America - The Historical Novel Society - Western Fictioneers
Speaker Availability
Yes
Speaker Topics
The Old West - The Civil War